Ditch-digge



miran s'raras PAreNr "or-'srca JOHN E. FUNK, 01" S'L'QCKTON, CALIFOBITIA..

miren-Dream nafta-aaa a pecificaton of Letter ssPatent. Patented Matt, 15, 1 923.,

Application med November 20, 1919. Serial Ho. 839,374.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. FUNK, a

citizenV of the United, States, residing at and l do declare the 'following to be 'a full,

` clear, and-exact description of thel samo,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the charactersl of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

Irl'his invention relates to improvements in ditch digging machines of the type in which the digging is efiected by means of an endless driven chain having transverse cutter plates, buckets or other Cutting members thereon.

The principal object ,of this invention is to provide a device adapted to be driven with the chain and secured to the lower sprocket wheel over whichthfe chain passes, by means of which a ditch of any extra width than that normally intended'for the machine may be dug.

The device is removable, ma be made 1n difierent sizes and widths of ace to fit the same sprocket Wheel, and may be mounted on either or both sides of the same, dependin on the width of'ditch desired.

have found this attachment to -be of great service, sinceit permits me to maintain a single ditoh digglng machine to dig ditches of varying widths. Otherwise it is necessary to 'have a separate digger for each width of ditch, if such widths vary to any great extent, s1nce the frames etc. of these machines are usually so proportioned and spaced as to be adaptable for only one wldth of chain digger, or at the most, allowinga variation of only a few inches.

With my attachment however, supposing the ori al machine to be adapted for di ging a d1tch'12 inchles in wldth, I a m enab ed to dig a ditch of 18 or 2 4 inches width, or of any similar dlmenslons, de-

pending onthe width of face of'my attachments.

Aa certain distance fromv'the bottom than it is at the top.

This feature is of ,especial use for ditches dug for the laying of large sewer, water or other ipe, in which it is necessary to lhave the dltch adjacent the pipe considerably wlder than the pipe in order to be able to place cement, etc., around the same, or to cement the couplings and flanges.

Heretofore to attain this resul'tgit has been necessary to make the entire ditch th' same width all the way down, which is a long and costly procedure. With my atltachment however, as stated, it is possible to cut the top of the ditch of a wdth merely v suficient for the lowering of the pipe there- 1n, at the same tlme reaming out the bottom of the ditch where the pipe is to lay. Ur if -a 'ditch is already dug, it may then be reamed out'with av separate operation.

Still another sphere of usefulness for the device as a reamer is this z-ln certain kinds of land it has been found feasible to have a supply of water fiow underground without the need of pipe to inclose the same. With my attachment,.operated in conjunction with -chain scraper plates of suitable width, a

bore of suflicient size for the purpose may be made a suitable distance undergroundr 1 In the hind of land in which such ditches are feaslble, l have found that it is unnecessary to cover the narrow portion at the top,

. as the dirt fromA the reamer can be removed with 6 inch scraper plates. This G'f-'opening at the topf'gradually comes together, closing over the larger portionat the bottom and leaving a large underground ditch for drainage or=sub irrigation.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly efl`ective for the purposes for which it is desi ned.

hese objects I l-accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in 'the several views Figure 1 1s a slde elevation of the rear end f of the digging member of a ditch di ger,

showing my improved reaming and en arging attachment mounted thereon.

` Fig. 2 is a top -plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross section f sired number,

through the chain idler sprocket Wheel,

wardly from the rear of the body of the.

ditch digging machine, this beam being forked at its lower end as at 2, and provide at such end with outwardly projecting split i bearings 3.

This beam is pivotally mounted at its upper end, and adapted to be lowered to varying depths, the particular machlne on which this beam is mounted being shown and described in my Patent No. 1,073,227 dated September 16th, 1913, though my device is not limited in its adaptation to this particular machine. v

Positioned between the forks of the member 1 is a sprocket Wheel 4 having long shafts 5 preferably formed integral therewith, journaled in the bearin s 3 and projecting therebeyond on both si es. Over the sprocket Wheel passes a driven chain 6 having transverse scraper plates or slmilar digging members, 7 projecting outwardly and rigidly secured to alternate links.,

This chain is adapted to travel around the sprocket Wheel in a clockwise direction with the forward motion of the machine on which it is mounted, and the sprocket Wheel, While an idler, necessarily has a positive turning movement in thesame direction as the chain, owing to the contact of the sprocket teeth therewth.

My attachment, which I may call a reamer, comprises a hub 8 adapted to be rigidly fixed to the shaft 5 beyondthe bearing 3, from which hub radiate a plurality of blades 9. These blades may be of any debut are preferably proportioned apart relative to the pitch of the chain and the spacing of the plates thereon, So that with the common movement of the chain and the blades each of the latter will be in a plane between any two of the chain' plates 7.

The blades 9 have a width of face, preferably and approximately half that of the chain plates 7, though this proportion is by no means arbitrary.

The radial length of each blade is the same as the radial distance of the outer edge of each chain plate from the center of the Wheel 4, and the inner Vertical edge of each v blade is adjacent the corresponding edge of the chain lates.

The blades are positioned transversely of the hub at an angle of about 45 degrees to the shaft 5 and the sprocket Wheel, and converge toward the rear of the latter when in their lowermost position, so that the dirt WillV hh pushed into the path of the chain plates.

Also, the blades are curved forwardly, a s

shown at 10 in Fig. 1, in the direction of their rotation, and their outer edges, a shortdistance from their ends, ar'e cut away for the remainder of their length, as shown at 11, since there is no need of the blade having a side cutting edge for its full length.

In operation, one of these attachments is preferably placed on each end of the shaft 5, one of the same being positioned on the shaft relative to the other so that'the blades thereof register between chain plates other When it is desired to dig a ditch the full` l width of the chain plates plus the attachments, the cutting operation may be carried out by stages, since the depth to which the chain may be lowered with each cutting operation must not exceed the diameter of the attachment blades.

When desired to fashion a ditch of the approximate shape shown in Fig. 4, having its Vupper portion 12 the Width of the chain plates and the lower portion 13 the width given by the addition of the reamers, the beam 1 is lowered the full depth of the ditch to be dug, the speed of lowering of course being dependent on the power available to dig the dirt, so that the narrow upper portion and the wider lower portion are both dug at one operation.

When it is desired to use the chain only, I

without the attachments, the long shaft dle one substituted therefor. v

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfils the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred 'construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

- Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secu're by Letters Patent is 1. In a vditching v machine, a sprocket Wheel, an endless chain passing over the Wheel, and transverse digg'ing members thereon, rotary cutters secured to the sprocket Wheel on both sides, said cutters being. arranged relative to the sprocket Wheel to throw all the dirt dug thereby into the path of the chain plates. J

2. In a ditching machine having a.

thereof and arranged to throw the dirt into.

the path of the transverse diggers on the chain, theplates on one side being in staggered arrangement With those on the other, Whereby the dirt from each Will be throWn into the path of alternate ones of the chain diggers.

3. In a ditching machme, a sprocket Wheel, an endless chain passing over the Wheel, and transverse digging members thereon, reamers on both sides of the sprocket Wheel, such reamers each comprising a hub adapted to be mounted over the shaft of the sprocket thereto, and radial cutting blades projecting Wheel and secured from the hub, in a transverse plane adjacent the chain blades, the blades being positioned on the Wheel in rearward angular relation to the sprocket Wheel, When in their loWermost position, Whereby the dirt cut by the reamers Will be forced into the path of the chain blades With the rotation thereof.

4. In va ditching machine having a sprocket Wheel, an endless chain passing` thereover, and transverse digging members thereon; reamers on both sides of the sprocket Wheel and connected to turn there- With, such reamers each comprising a relatively small ing therefrom, thel Cutting edges of such blades being horzontal and tangential relative to a circle concentric With the sprocket Wheel and the blades themselves being positioned in rearward angular relation to said Wheel When in their loWermost position.

In testimony Whereof I affix my si ature.

- JOHN E. F K.v

hub and radial blades project- 

